POLICE ARREST MAYOR (AGAIN) AND TEAR GAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001391

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM UG
SUBJECT: POLICE ARREST MAYOR (AGAIN) AND TEAR GAS
OPPOSITION IN WESTERN UGANDA

REF: A. KAMPALA 01249

B. KAMPALA 00946

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Aaron Sampson for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: On December 1, police arrested the Mayor of
the western Ugandan town of Hoima and senior member of the
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, Francis Atugonza,
for alleged abuse of office. Atugonza recently sued the
Chief of Military Intelligence for torture following his
previous arrest in April. On December 6, police in Hoima
used riot gear, tear gas, and batons to prevent the FDC's
president and likely presidential candidate, Kizza Besigye,
from holding a rally. Senior National Resistance Movement
(NRM) leaders are concerned about FDC inroads around Hoima,
which has traditionally supported President Museveni.
Atugonza's arrest and Besigye's canceled rally appear to be
government attempts to harass and undermine opposition
parties in western Uganda. End Summary.

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FDC Mayor Arrested, Again
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2. (U) Police arrested Hoima Mayor Francis Atugonza on
December 1, charging him with abuse of office for allegedly
selling public land and pocketing the profits. He will
remain in jail until his December 17 court date. In April,
Atugonza, who is also the FDC's National Secretary for Trade
and Finance, was arrested, allegedly beaten with an iron bar,
and incarcerated in a Kampala "safe house" by the Joint
Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) under the authority of the
Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). Atugonza
subsequently sued CMI's Director, Brig. Gen. James Mugira,
for torture inflicted upon him while in custody. The court
case, which is closed to the public for national security
reasons, is ongoing (ref. A).


3. (C) The U.S. Mission's EconOff was scheduled to meet with
Atugonza on December 2 in Hoima. Standing in for Atugonza,
the FDC's Hoima District Chair Jackson Wabyona said
Atugonza's arrest is a continuation of NRM harassment of
Hoima's FDC leadership. Wabyona said the charges levied
against Atugonza are two year old allegations stemming from
the sale of private, not government land, and that the Hoima
town council has never claimed ownership of the property.
Wabyona linked the timing of the arrest to a December 5-6
meeting in Hoima of opposition parties belonging to the
Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) coalition, as well as a
December 7 visit to Hoima by President Museveni. Wabyona
speculated that authorities arrested Atugonza to prevent him
from speaking at the IPC meeting and also from introducing
Museveni, in his role as Mayor, on December 7.

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Undermining the FDC in Hoima
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4. (SBU) Atugonza's arrest and the subsequent disruption of
Besigye's rally are only the latest government attempts to
disrupt FDC operations in Hoima, where FDC support in this
oil rich region appears to be growing. On October 21,
shortly after Atugonza initiated legal proceedings against
CMI boss Mugira for torture, Security Minister and NRM
Secretary General Amama Mbabazi warned of growing FDC
influence around Hoima, instructed local NRM party members
not to work with the opposition, and required NRM officials
elected to Hoima's FDC-led Town Council to resign. According
to one local newspaper account, Mbabazi asked Hoima NRM
leaders: "Who authorized you to join an executive led by an
FDC person? Who authorized you to join the FDC?" Mbabazi
subsequently issued a similar directive to NRM officials
elected to the opposition-led Town Council in Kumi in eastern
Uganda.


5. (SBU) The NRM officials in Hoima resigned, leaving only
Atugonza and one other Council official to oversee a town of
400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants. During a December 9 visit to
Hoima by Agriculture Minister Hope Mwesigye, Atugonza
condemned the resignations and President Museveni's proposal
to "ring-fence" elected offices in western Uganda to ethnic
Banyoro only (ref. B). In response, Minister Mwesigye warned
Atugonza to "quit the opposition or lose your seat" as Mayor.


6. (C) Hoima's Deputy Resident District Commissioner and NRM
official Joseph Kakooza told EconOff on December 2 that
Atugonza's case was just another "arrest of a corrupt public
official". Kakooza downplayed Mbabazi's directive

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instructing elected NRM members to resign from the Hoima Town
Council, but stated that 11 NRM officials have resigned from
various levels of Hoima's local government. He added that
multiparty politics are still relatively new to Uganda,
having been introduced only in 2005. On December 9, the
State Minister for Local Government, Perez Ahabwe, also
downplayed Mbabazi's directive, saying that Mbabazi's
comments are based on the NRM constitution and do not reflect
official Ugandan government policy. Ahabwe indicated that he
believes Mbabazi's statements hinder the effectiveness of
local government, but that Mbabazi is unlikely to temper his
view based on Ahabwe's input.

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Police Tear Gas Besigye
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7. (SBU) Cognizant of the beating Atugonza suffered after his
April arrest, FDC president and likely presidential candidate
Kizza Besigye visited Atugonza in prison on December 6. After
the visit, police in riot gear used road blocks, tear gas,
and batons to prevent Besigye and FDC supporters from
entering downtown Hoima to participate in the already
scheduled IPC rally. According to police, Besigye was
authorized to visit the prison but not to address the IPC
rally. Local media quoted a Hoima police official as stating
that the IPC had been forewarned and that "we have stocked
enough tear gas and standby policeman to handle the
situation."


8. (SBU) In a press conference after the incident, Besigye
criticized the police response, stating: "This is a rogue
regime that disrespects the rule of law and human rights. We
came to visit our person who was imprisoned because of the
usual persecution we go through and also talk to our people
about the Inter-Party Cooperation but we were welcomed by
anti-riot police." Police also allegedly prevented another
FDC leader, the party's vice president for western Uganda
Patrick Baguma, from organizing a separate rally in another
part of Hoima.

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Comment: Hoima as a Potential Flash Point
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9. (C) Police and government officials continue to invoke the
Police Act to disrupt opposition rallies and gatherings, even
though a 2008 Constitutional Court ruling declared
unconstitutional the portions of the act - Articles 32 and 35
which require written permission of the Inspector General of
Police to hold any assembly consisting of 25 persons or more
- used by police to block opposition meetings. A pending
appeal by the Ministry of Justice enables the police to
continue to apply these rules to opposition activities. The
two prime targets for the moment are the FDC and Betty
Nambooze, who is the Democratic Party (DP) spokesperson and a
Buganda Kingdom activist. On December 1, police used tear
gas and security vehicles to block DP members from
celebrating Nambooze's arrival at Entebbe Airport, and to
prevent local journalists from filming the incidents.
Government suppression of the opposition in Hoima is
especially dangerous in light of rising ethnic tensions in
Bunyoro, accelerating oil exploration nearby, and the NRM's
traditional reliance on the western Uganda electorate.
LANIER